More Effective Strategies for Assessing English Language Learners: Do This, Not That

We all know the many shortcomings of one-size-fits-all approaches to assessing student learning. In this episode, we focus on effective strategies for assessing English language learners. What works, what doesn’t?

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Cindy Garcia serves as the district-wide instructional specialist for Bilingual/ESL Mathematics PK-6 in Pasadena ISD. Cindy previously served as campus mathematics coach and bilingual third-grade teachers in PISD. Cindy writes a monthly blog about ways to support English Learners at www.teachingelementaryels.weebly.com. Vivian Micolta Simmons was born in Cali, Colombia, but relocated to the United States in 2013. She has been a teacher for 15 years (EFL, ESL, and Dual Immersion) and currently working as an ESL/DLI Lead Teacher for Iredell-Statesville Schools in NC. She holds a Masters in TESOL from Greensboro College and currently working on my Masters in School Administration with UNC Charlotte. Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., is co-founder and lead developer for WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin- Madison. She has devoted her professional career to the education of multilingual learners, having published extensively and presented worldwide; her latest books include Assessing English language learners: Bridges to equity, Assessing multilingual learners: A month-by-month guide (2017, ASCD), and Language power: Key uses for accessing content.